Skip navigation.
New Mexico State University

Research

Researchers are studying various facets of desertification to have a more complete understanding of the process
« 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 »
Researchers are studying various facets of desertification to have a more complete understanding of the process.

Almost 40 percent of the Earth’s surface and 20 percent of the world’s population are found in regions that are under threat from desertification. The result can be loss of grass and degradation of soil as grasslands are converted into woody-plant-dominated landscapes.

A team of researchers has developed a multi-faceted process to study these arid and semiarid landscapes that takes into account the wide range of factors influencing changes that can result in desertification.

Led by Debra Peters, research scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service at the Jornada Experimental Range in southern New Mexico, the team of USDA and New Mexico State University researchers published their findings in the June 2006 issue of BioScience. The article is titled “Disentangling Complex Landscapes: New Insights Into Arid and Semiarid System Dynamics.”

Southern New Mexico, part of the vast Chihuahuan Desert, the largest desert in North America, is undergoing desertification in many areas. Historical photos from the Jornada Experimental Range clearly illustrate the dramatic changes that have taken place.

“People don’t necessarily realize that this used to be a large grassland,” Peters said. Documentation from the experimental range and anecdotal evidence from letters and other accounts include details about the landscape more than 100 years ago. For example, horseback riders reported grass as high as their stirrups.

“It was a huge grassland – beautiful – in the 1850s,” Peters said. “It hasn’t always looked this way.”

Although many research methods exist to study various facets of desertification, the USDA/NMSU researchers found that more complete understanding of the process can be achieved by looking back in time at historic legacies, considering environmental factors and studying soil, topography and soil parent material. Also considered is the influence of wind, water and animals as they transport water, nutrients, soil particles, plant litter and seeds. The redistribution of those resources also is weighed in the landscape reorganization.